S.C. Senator Lindsey Graham Says Stacey Abrams ‘Conned’ Georgia GOP

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) attacked voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams Thursday, saying she conned Georgia election officials which led to Democrats taking the state.

Graham said a legal settlement, reached in March after the Georgia Democratic Party sued the state arguing minorities were disproportionately impacted when their ballots were rejected, prevented election officials from properly checking signatures. The lack of signature verification resulted in unsubstantiated election fraud by Democrats.

“Stacey Abrams conned the Republican leadership in Georgia into a consent decree that basically adulterated the signature verification system, so that you’re comparing the ballot signature to the application signature,” Graham said on The Mike Gallagher Show. “They’re the same person who did the fraud. You should be comparing the ballot signature, the envelope signature on the ballot, to a signature that existed before the application was made. She changed that.”

Graham went on to say that GOP leaders in the state must now change the laws to “stop Stacey Abrams from stealing the Senate race,” referring to the two Senate runoffs Jan. 5 where Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler will try to hold on to their seats.

Graham’s claim about Abrams was quickly debunked by the Associated Press.

“There is nothing in the consent decree that prevents Georgia election clerks from scrutinizing signatures,” the Nov. 15 report said. “The legal settlement signed in March addresses accusations about a lack of statewide standards for judging signatures on absentee ballot envelopes.”

Election officials in the state have been forced to defend Biden’s win as Republicans have been unable to accept it. Less than a week after Biden was declared the winner in the state, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Graham called him and hinted that he should throw away ballots during a recount.

Graham denied the claims, but an ethics complaint was filed against Graham with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. The complaint asks the committee to investigate Graham’s call to Raffensperger.

Abrams meanwhile has continued her work to get Black and minority residents in the state registered to vote. The HBCU graduate told The Hill more than 750,000 residents in the state have requested an absentee ballot for the Senate runoffs.